


they share a birthday

by Super_Danvers



Category: Snowpiercer (TV 2020)
Genre: Blood, Comfort, F/F, Female Friendships, Graphic Violence, Mentions of Rape, Mentions of Sexual Assault, Sapphics, Secrets, bess till - Freeform, injuries, married melaudrey, melanie cavill - Freeform, melaudrey, miss audrey - Freeform, mr wilford, post rebellion, pre-season 2, soft, trigger warning, tw, wilford - Freeform, wlw, zarah ferami - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:27:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26855932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Danvers/pseuds/Super_Danvers
Summary: “Did you take this photo?”“Yes.”“When?”“That’s Audrey’s twenty…. ninth. Or eighth.” Melanie answered. She glanced at it again. “Ninth. Alex was turning seven. They share a birthday.”
Relationships: Miss Audrey & Melanie Cavill, Miss Audrey/Melanie Cavill, Zarah Ferami + Melanie Cavill
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	they share a birthday

“Touch her again, and I will kill you.”

Melanie stood so close to Wilford’s face that she could smell the cigar he’d been smoking on his breath. Despite his massive frame looming over her like a monster about to swallow her whole, she wasn’t afraid of him. Actually, she was terrified of him but she couldn’t let him see that. Melanie wished the weapon she had was pressed to Wilford’s throat, rather than pressed to his side. If she had it up on his throat, then she could end him right here and now and be done it with his pathetic existence forever. But she had it against his side, because he had a gun pressing directly into the back of Audrey’s head. Audrey was shaking, either with pure fear or from the cold that was turning her lips blue. Melanie wanted to reached behind her and squeeze her hand, to let her know she was okay, but Audrey was in such a state that Melanie wasn’t sure she even knew where she was.

Audrey was still in her rebellion outfit, the burgundy one that was redder now with all the blood that had soaked into it. Her white shirt looked like it had never been white in its life, and had been ripped in several places that one could hardly even call it a shirt anymore. Audrey’s hair had fallen out of its clip and now tumbled in front of her face in a tangled mess with some loose strands sticking to the cuts on her cheeks, glued there by blood and sweat. She was on her knees, shoved there by Wilford to be made an example of to the other rebelling Thirds he’d captured. They’d been there for some time as Wilford had made another one of his boastful, smug speeches to humiliate Audrey further. Although Melanie now stood at her shoulder, her hand couldn’t reach down to touch her wife for comfort: Audrey was too slumped down with defeat.

Audrey either hadn’t noticed or was too exhausted to see that she was almost safe. When she’d been shoved to the floor, she’d been surrounded by Wilford’s men and other prisoners of Big Alice who’d been her only company for the past week. Now, after a struggled but brief tussle, the people who stood around her were the much friendlier faces that she’d seen on a daily basis back on Snowpiercer. Clay, Zarah and Bess were amongst them – all of them were almost as battered as she was. Now, the only thing that stood between Audrey and freedom was the man with the gun to her head.

Nobody dared move: fearful Wilford would go out with a bang that included Audrey’s head. Only Melanie spoke.

“Let her go, Wilford.” She snarled. Melanie knew he might turn the gun on her, but she didn’t care as long as it kept Audrey alive.

“Or what?”

Melanie resisted the urge to smile when she heard the small army around her tighten their fists around their weapons. Even though she wasn’t their leader anymore, it felt good to have people on her side. “Look around you. It’s over. Snowpiercer is ours and Big Alice has fallen. You’re finished.”

“No.” Wilford sneered. “As long as I have your pretty lady here, and Snowpiercer stays on track, I will live forever.”

Melanie tightened her jaw and raised her chin defiantly. “You have two choices. You can either leave, and go back to the pit you came from or you die here. Slowly, and alone.” She pressed the knife a little closer into his side. “But if you hurt her, I will rip you limb from limb myself.”

Wilford didn’t react. His eyes only locked with Melanie’s in an icy standoff. Once upon a time, Melanie would’ve cowered under that stare and hidden herself away until she’d cried it out on her own. Now, Melanie wanted to claw at his face so badly that he’d have to learn how to read Braille on the scars she’d leave there. She wanted him dead, and gone – or whichever came first. When Melanie spoke again, her tone was pure, unwavering steel:

“Get _the fuck_ off of this train.”

The gun did not waver in Wilford’s hand. Audrey hadn’t moved or made a sound in this entire exchange. The only indication that she was alive was the slight rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed almost silent, haggard breaths. Judging from the hoarseness of it, it sounded like she’d cracked or broken a rib. Melanie hadn’t missed how one of her fingers was bent at a horribly crooked angle, nor how underneath what was left of her shirt were a variety of bruises in different shades of blue, green and black. She was waiting for the gun to be turned on her; waiting for the bullet with Audrey’s name on be fired at her instead.

Wilford noticed Melanie looking and wore a twisted expression. “Fine. I’ll go.” He dropped the gun, and the sound of it landing bounced and echoed off of the walls. He leaned in close, so close that his lips brushed Melanie’s ear lobe when he spoke. “But she’ll never be the same Audrey. Not after what I did to her. Goes the same for that daughter of yours.”

Before Melanie could reply, he turned on his heel and started to stride back to what was left of Big Alice. Melanie wanted to run up behind him and slit his throat. Cut right across it so his neck would open like a red eye. Rage burned through her like wildfire, but she knew she had to keep her word, and so did the people around her. They all watched him go with same amount of hatred, clutching their weapons tighter and sending piercing looks through his back like invisible knives. Some followed to make sure he got off the train. The moment Wilford was out of sight, however, the anger melted away and people were rushing to Audrey and the other injured prisoners.

It was Bess who hoisted Audrey into her arms, apologising profusely when Audrey cried out in pain. Despite her agony, Melanie was glad Audrey was at least well enough to cry. The louder it was, the better. As Bess stepped carefully over the bodies of Wilford’s fallen men, Zarah held Audrey’s good hand and Melanie pushed her knotted hair out of her face. There were cuts all over it, mostly little ones that dotted her jawline and her cheeks like kisses. The nastiest one went from her hair line just below her left eyebrow, slitting the hair in two. Thankfully, at least it looked like someone had tried to stitch it up.

“Get her to Pelton, Bess.” Melanie commanded as they made it to the med car. People were everywhere, squeezing past each other like rabbits in a den. They weren’t all going to make it down this corridor, so it made sense to let Bess push through them whilst she and Zarah could catch up.

The blonde Brakeman nodded and tried to hold Audrey a little higher up in her arms so people didn’t budge up against her and injure her more. Neither Bess nor Zarah were looking too good themselves. Melanie noticed, as she watched Audrey getting hoisted through the crowd, Bess had an open wound on the side of her head that had drenched her hair and left ear in blood and she hadn’t seemed to have noticed it. If it didn’t bother her, it could wait. Zarah, on the other hand, needed medical attention as much as Audrey did.

In the ten seconds between entering the medical car and watching Bess carry Audrey down the corridor, a sinking feeling had washed over Zarah’s entire body. In the first three seconds, Zarah put it down to adrenaline dizziness. She wasn’t meant to be in situations like this, even at this early stage of pregnancy. Human life was precious onboard of Snowpiercer, and it was remarkably easy to lose it – even if the victim was just a clump of cells. When her vision blurred more and her world spun in circles, Zarah reached out to catch Melanie’s sleeve with her fingertips.

Melanie managed to get a hold of Zarah’s elbow as the other woman’s knees buckled beneath her. She knew she was meant to keep an eye on Zarah’s wellbeing - because Audrey had asked her to on the day she’d been captured – but Zarah made her uncomfortable. Every time she saw her big brown eyes make that kicked puppy expression, or she spotted her looking down at her growing stomach – Melanie felt awful. She’d threatened that life, and the life within that life, and every time she saw Zarah: she was reminded of that. Now was the time to make up for it.

Melanie’s other hand managed to grip Zarah’s upper arm so she didn’t hit the floor like a brick. There was a dazed look in her eyes as she sat in a heap, completely zoned out from the chaos that was going on around her. Melanie crouched down in front of her.

“What is it? What’s the matter?” She asked. Zarah’s grip on her sleeves were loose, and her eyes seemed to look straight through her as if she weren’t in front of her. Melanie scanned over Zarah’s front, but couldn’t see anything inherently wrong. “Zarah, talk to me.”

Zarah’s mouth opened and shut, like she was speaking but only mouthing her words. Melanie gave her shoulders a little shake, hoping it would bring her out of whatever reverie she was in. Zarah blinked dumbly, only seeming to notice Melanie when she pinched the skin on her neck.

“I…can’t…get up.” She whispered so quietly that Melanie almost didn’t hear her. Her brown eyes, after what felt like forever, found Melanie’s green. “What if Audrey dies? What if she’s not okay?”

Melanie wanted to slap her. She wanted to slap her for thinking such a thing. They’d made it an entire week without thinking the worst, and they weren’t about to start now they had Audrey home. Even if they had let their minds wander as to what Wilford was doing to Audrey, they’d certainly never spoken of it. Melanie sighed, hearing Audrey’s voice in her head. _She’s just scared, you have to be patient with her._ Melanie didn’t want to be patient: she was too worried about Audrey to be patient.

“Audrey will be fine.” She tried to sound reassuring, but she could hear the sharp tone in her voice. Melanie sighed again, and tried to count to ten. “You heard her crying, Zarah. That means she’ll be fine.”

“But, what if –“

“She’ll be okay.” Melanie snapped. The second she did it, she regretted it. Audrey’s voice floated back into her head. _You’re better than that: try it a different way._ Melanie’s eyes flitted to Zarah’s. They were wide and looked like a kicked puppy, and her arms had wound protectively around her stomach. The last time Melanie had snapped at Zarah like this had been the whole Josie fiasco, so Melanie knew what she was thinking right now. Her hands let go of Zarah’s arms. “C’mon, we should get you looked at while we wait. You look pale.”

She straightened and held out a hand. Zarah looked at it doubtfully, but took it and let Melanie help her up. More people were crowding into the med car now. Most were the injured that had been captured with Audrey, and others were the unfortunate souls destined for the trash chute. For a brief moment, Melanie wondered how many people were actually left on board _Snowpiercer_. There weren’t many left, that was for sure. She’d stepped over hundreds of bodies; some she knew and a few she didn’t. Melanie tried to banish the thought of Audrey being one of them and started to press through the mob with Zarah holding tightly onto her hand.

+

Thankfully, the Nightcar wasn’t far from the med car and thankfully, Audrey’s attic room was still as untouched as it was the day she’d been snatched. Granted, the Nightcar was still littered with dead bodies covered in bloodied sheets and had a strong smell of something undetermined, but it was still one of the safest places on the train. As they entered the carriage, the train shook so violently that Zarah and Melanie had to hold onto each other to stay upright. The lights flickered, and there was a brief but loud screech of metal on metal.

“What is that?” Zarah worried.

Melanie straightened them. “It’s Big Alice. It must be detaching from the train.” She watched as the lights returned to their normal, dim glow and smiled. “He’s gone. Wilford’s gone.”

Saying it aloud felt liking lifting the weight of the world off her shoulders. Melanie suddenly felt as light as a feather. Knowing Wilford was gone and out of her life was like heaven – even if it was only for the time being. It was certain that he’d come back again at some point to wreck even more carnage on her, but right now, she didn’t care. She could deal with that when it happened.

Melanie and Zarah pressed on, stepping carefully over the fallen rebels as they made their way towards Audrey’s room. Every now and again, Zarah’s grip on Melanie’s sleeve would tighten as she recognised one of the bodies on the floor. Melanie, despite wanting to get back to Audrey, waited patiently whenever Zarah stooped to close somebody’s eyes and press a kiss to their forehead. It was sweet, if a little morbid in her opinion. The ability to still love somebody after death, and still show mercy even if the deceased didn’t know it. Melanie could practically hear Audrey telling her to take a leaf out of Zarah’s book.

Audrey’s room was nothing grand, nor was it anywhere as cluttered as Melanie’s room uptrain. Instead of maps and pins, Audrey had faded posters and old pictures up on her wall. They were from the days before the Freeze, and of music artists that Melanie couldn’t quite remember the songs of. The pictures she kept in a little cardboard box were of her old memories – memories that Zarah rifled through with a fond expression.

“She had…big birthdays.” She said quietly as she gazed at a photo of a much younger Audrey surrounded by people with a birthday cake in front of her.

Melanie crossed over to Audrey’s bunk, and started to make the bed as it was quite crumpled and messy. “She sure did.”

Zarah frowned as she studied the picture. She pointed to a young girl on Audrey’s left. She was about six, maybe seven, but she had dark hair and big blue eyes. She was hanging off Audrey’s arm, and the both of them had big smiles on their faces. “Did Audrey have a kid?”

Melanie looked at the photo, taking it gently from Zarah’s hands. Her thumb ran over the little girl’s face, and she gave a sad, solemn smile. “In a way.” She answered. At Zarah’s raised eyebrow, she gestured to the girl. “That’s my daughter, Allie.”

Zarah’s face was a picture. It started off confused, then progressed to shock, and finally settled on a mixture of realisation and sadness. Melanie handed her the photo to look at again. Her big chocolate eyes blinked as she tried to mull over a question. Melanie just waited.

“Did you take this photo?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“That’s Audrey’s twenty…. ninth. Or eighth.” Melanie answered. She glanced at it again. “Ninth. Alex was turning seven. They share a birthday.”

Zarah nodded. “And who are these people?”

Melanie pointed to the two older people behind Audrey. “Those are my parents.” Then she indicated to a woman on Allie’s right. “That’s Allie’s godmother, Jeanie. We went to Yale together. And that –“ Her finger fell on a man in his early thirties with a grin that Zarah recognised. “-that’s Audrey’s brother.”

“She has a brother?”

“Had.”

Zarah sat on the bed, and let out a long exhale. “She’s never mentioned any of this.”

Melanie picked up the box with the rest of Audrey’s memories. “I wouldn’t take it personally, if I were you. Audrey’s never liked talking about the past, not even with me.”

There was a pause as Zarah looked at Melanie curiously. “What’s the story with you two? Any time I ask her why she hates you so much, she just changes the subject or says not to worry about it.” She said. “I figured she just didn’t like you because of – well, what happened. I never knew you two were –“

“There’s not much to tell. Look at the pictures, they’ll tell you.” Melanie interrupted. “You should stay here while I go and check up on her. I figured you were safer to wait here than in the med car.”

She left before Zarah could protest. In all honesty, Melanie didn’t want to tell Zarah about her and Audrey’s past as much as she didn’t want to hear how Audrey hated her. She could deal with a lot of things, but remembering the things she did to Audrey was not one of them. That was one of the things Audrey had been helping her with: but it was still hard. Melanie hated looking back on the person she was. She knew she should go back, offer Zarah a glass of water and make sure she actually was okay to stay in an attic bedroom whilst she found someone with medical training to take a look at her – but she didn’t want to. Right now, Melanie wanted to be with Audrey.

+

The medical car hadn’t calmed down in the twenty-five minutes Melanie had been gone. If anything, it was worse now. More people had swarmed in with injuries that made Melanie feel sick to look at. As she tried to make her way through the sea of blood and filth, Melanie spotted Dr Pelton knelt in front of a man with a head injury. When she got closer, it turned out she recognised him.

“Ben? What happened to _you?_ ”

Bennett Knox had a gash that had sliced off the top lobe of his ear and soaked his neck in blood. His engineer’s suit was covered in it too, as were his hands. His eyes, usually a dark brown, were red-rimmed and blackened by either soot or some dark substance he’d been involved in that made him look like he hadn’t slept in years. He didn’t seem particularly fazed by it though, because he smiled and lifted his when he recognised Melanie.

“Mel! Oh my god, it’s good to see you. Are you alright?”

“More or less.” Her eyes flitted to Pelton, who was trying to dab at Bennett’s sliced ear with mild annoyance. “Where’s Audrey?”

Dr Pelton didn’t answer. Instead, she took hold of Ben’s chin and roughly held him still to apply pressure to his ear. “Will you hold still? Jesus Christ, it’s like trying to play Whack-A-Mole.” She pressed the cloth to his head, making him wince. Once she had his ear, Pelton looked at Melanie. “She’s third from the end, on the right.”

Melanie didn’t question her, nor did she turn her head to Ben’s further questions. If Pelton was comfortable enough to leave Audrey on her own, then she mustn’t be in any real danger. Either that, or Audrey was dead already and Pelton had moved onto patients with a heartbeat. Melanie hoped it wasn’t the latter. She elbowed her way through the crowd until she found the door Pelton had told her. It was closed, which made Melanie’s heart stop for half a second, but she went through it anyway.

The room was tiny, probably only big enough to hold two twin beds if they were pushed right up next to each other. Currently, it only held one, and a small, metal chair beside it. Bess was slouched in the chair beside the cot, holding an icepack to her head in one hand and Audrey’s hand in the other. Audrey herself had been buried under three blankets, two of them hand-knitted by someone on the train it seemed. Her bad hand, the one in Bess’, had been bandaged and there was a thin layer of plaster around her now straightened finger. Her bloodied clothes had been stripped so almost the entirety of Audrey’s body were bandages and band-aids. Her hair, still tangled and messy, had been pinned back again to keep it out of her face.

Bess stood when Melanie entered the room. She wobbled for a second, dizzy from her head wound, but maintained her balance. “I kept her company for you.” She muttered. “Doc says she’s got a cracked rib, broken finger and some other things I can’t remember. My head hurts.”

Melanie put a hand on Bess’ shoulder. “Sit down, Till. Get some rest.” She ordered gently. “We don’t need anymore casualties, and I don’t think I can stand to lose another one of ours today.”

Bess sighed and just did as she was told. She was too tired to argue that she was probably needed elsewhere. Melanie went around the cot and took a perch at Audrey’s side. She was asleep, and beneath the plasters and hastily-knitted stitches, her face looked peaceful. Beaten, and tear-stained, but peaceful. Melanie intertwined her fingers with Audrey’s good hand, and used her other one to brush the last strands of hair out of her face. Her skin was cold and clammy to the touch, like she’d just been for a run and hadn’t wiped the sweat from her forehead. As Melanie put the back of her hand to Audrey’s forehead, she stirred.

“Mhm…cold.” Audrey’s voice was slurred and slow, like she’d just woken up from a very deep sleep. It wasn’t half-untrue because she wouldn’t have woken up if it hadn’t of been for all the poking and prodding. She peeped an eye open. “Your hand is cold.”

Melanie smiled. “Still got your sense of humour then.”

Audrey grumbled in response. “Hm, yeah. One thing he couldn’t break, I guess.” She poked the other eye open, and winced as she frowned up at her wife. “What happened to you?”

Melanie had almost completely forgotten about her own injuries, partly because she was so worried for Audrey, and partly because she just hadn’t noticed them. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror above Audrey’s bed. There was a large cut along her jawline surrounded by a bruise the size of Melanie’s hand. It had been from Wilford slamming the hilt of his cane into her face while she’d been laying on the floor. How long ago had that been? Why had she been on the floor? Did she black out? Melanie couldn’t remember any of it. She didn’t really care.

Her hand reached forward and she ran her thumb over Audrey’s bruised and battered face. “Doesn’t matter about me. How are you feeling?”

“Like shit.” Audrey winced as an injury sent a flash of pain up her body. However, that didn’t stop the worried expression on her face. She lifted a weak wrist to Melanie’s cheek. “-and it _does_ matter about you. What happened?”

Melanie sniffed a laugh. She hadn’t realised she was holding back tears until she saw tear splash onto Audrey’s bedsheets. “Audrey, for gods sakes, will you just let this be about you? For once? You’ve got a cracked rib and you’re going to be lucky if you don’t lose that eye so please, for the love of god, just shut up and get better.”

Audrey smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

Melanie sighed. “Good.” She stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to check on Zarah.” Melanie regretted the excuse as soon as she said it.

“Zarah? What’s wrong with Zarah?” Audrey tried to sit up, gritting her teeth through the agonising pain it was giving her. “Is the baby alright?”

“Woah there, soldier.” Melanie sat back down on the bed, and eased Audrey’s shoulders back to her pillow. “Zarah’s fine. The baby’s fine. Everyone’s fine. Just get some rest, please? I need to not worry about you for twenty minutes, and try to look after people.”

“But-“

“No buts, Audrey. You’re staying in bed.”

“No, I-“

“ _I’ll_ check on Zarah.” Bess’ voice piped up from the chair. She’d been silently observing the worry between the two women for the past five minutes and their arguing was making her headache worse. She stood up. “You two stay here. I’ll make sure she’s alright.”

Melanie wanted to argue, but Till’s face was more forceful than usual. She just nodded. “She’s in Audrey’s room.” She told the blonde and as Till reached the door, Melanie stopped her again. “And Bess?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“S’alright.” Bess shrugged and left, muttering under her breath about hoping to get more sleep at Zarah’s.

Melanie sighed, and climbed onto the bed beside Audrey. Thankfully, she was quite warm under all the blankets. “God, I’m tired.”

“Same.” Audrey mumbled, cuddling up to Melanie’s side. “You took Zarah to my room? She’ll see all the-“

“The photos, yeah. She’s seen them.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“And don’t play coy with me, Melanie Cavill. What did she say?”

Melanie cast a side-eye at her wife. “You know, for someone who’s been tortured for days on end, you have a very warped sense of priority.” She slipped a little further under their blanket. “Can’t you just go to sleep and we can talk about this later? When you’re feeling better?”

Audrey rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to feel better for a while. Besides, this is more interesting conversation than ‘where’s Melanie Cavill?’ and ‘We’re going to break your arm if you don’t cooperate.’.”

“He said that to you?”

Audrey shrugged. “Doesn’t matter now. He’s gone, right?”

Melanie wished Audrey wasn’t so flippant about things she was allowed to be perfectly frightened of. It was going to bite her in the ass, she’d said it over and over. _Right, and you’ll be there to catch me when it does._ Melanie wished she had Audrey’s courage. She sighed again.

“I didn’t stick around for the conversation. You can ask her yourself, when she comes to visit.”

Audrey groaned. “I forgot how much I hate hospitals. People come and do the whole hope-you-get-better crap.”

Melanie smiled and pressed a kiss to Audrey’s good eyebrow. “You’re going to get it a lot. People love you.”

Audrey rolled her eyes again and cuddled further into Melanie’s side, glad for the warmth and comfort she’d been robbed of over the past week. “I missed you.”

Melanie wrapped her arms around Audrey, careful not to squeeze on her cracked rib or pressure anything else that would hurt her. They pressed their foreheads together. “I missed you too. I thought I’d never get you back.” She placed a gentle kiss to Audrey’s nose. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Just about. God, I’m just happy to see you again. He didn’t hurt you too bad, did he?”

Melanie resisted the urge to smack her upside the head, but evidently nothing was going to stop Audrey worrying about other people. “No, he didn’t. Looks like you got the worst of it. He didn’t…uh...touch you, or anything like –“

“If you’re asking if he tried to rape me, no he didn’t. I think I disgusted him too much for that.” Audrey mumbled in a small, vulnerable voice. “I thought he might, you know, get back at you in some way but I think he managed that with Alexandra. Where is she, anyway?”

“She’s safe. Jinju is taking care of her until I get back.”

“Good. I remember when we took her to the aquarium when she was younger and the sharks were her favourite. Didn’t like the sting rays, though.”

 _“Too flat.”_ They said in unison.

“Or clown fish.” Melanie smiled.

“Too orange.” Audrey finished with a yawn. They shared a quiet laugh, happy of the old memory amongst all the chaos. Audrey pulled the blanket up to her chin. “I can’t believe she’s still alive, and she’s alright.”

“She’s so big now, too.” Melanie whispered into her ear. She could sense Audrey was starting to drift off now. “She’s nearly as tall as I am…she’s brilliant too.”

“Mm?”

“She remembers you.”

Audrey’s eyes were closing. “Yeah, well…who wouldn’t?”

Melanie smiled, and put another kiss on her hairline. “Right. I can’t wait for you to see her again.” She spoke softly. “We can be a family again. Like we were before, remember?”

There was only a quiet snore in response. Audrey was already asleep.


End file.
